1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method of adding or enhancing the ultra violet reflectance capability of natural and synthetic fishing lure making materials. More specifically the present invention relates to a method of dyeing natural and synthetic fishing lure materials to provide permanently bonded UVR substances to said natural and synthetic fishing lure materials. Further, the present invention relates to utilizing the instant invention on fishing lure materials that are untreated, pre-color dyed, pre-UV fluorescence dyed, and pre-color and pre-fluorescence dyed. The present invention also relates to said UVR enhanced fishing lure materials so produced.
2. Description of the Related Art
Color is an interpretation of light waves having a particular wavelength. While it is an organism's eye that receives light waves, it is the organism's brain that interprets those light waves and “sees” colors.
A transparent lens called the cornea is at the front of the eye to allow light waves into the eye. Behind the cornea is the iris, which gives the eye its color. By changing size, the iris regulates the amount of light entering the pupil, which is the orifice defined by the iris. Located behind the iris is a crystalline lens which focuses the light rays entering the eye onto the retina. The retina is the inner most layer of the eye and is covered with photo receptor cells. Light waves enter the eye though the cornea, pass through the pupil are focused by the lens and strike the photo receptors on the retina.
There are two types of photo receptors, rods and cones, which are named for their relative shapes. Rod type photo receptors perceive the intensity of light and enable an organism to see at night and other low light conditions. Cone type photo receptors perceive the wavelengths of various light waves and enable the organism to distinguish colors.
Humans are among the minority of mammals that have color vision. In the human eye, rods are found at the peripheral regions of the retina but are nearly absent from the center of the visual field, known as the fovea, where the cones are concentrated. The human eye has about 150,000 cones (color receptors) per square millimeter of fovea area. Humans' eyes have three variants of photo-receptive cones (known as red cones, blue cones, and green cones) and that reason humans are classified as trichromic organisms. Each variant of photo receptive cone carries a unique protein, called an opsin, which reacts when struck by light waves having wavelengths that correspond to the opsin's light sensitivity. It is unknown whether the reaction is physical, chemical, or both. The reaction of the opsins is communicated to the brain allowing the organism to distinguish between red, blue, and green colors. Thus, the world visually perceived by humans is dominated by light having wave lengths ranging from 400-750 nanometers or blue to red respectively.
In contrast to humans, bony fish, birds, and some other mammals have tetra-chromic vision. The eyes of tetra-chromic organisms have four variants of photo receptive cones. In addition to having three variants of cones with opsins sensitive to red, green and blue light, these organisms have a fourth variant of cone with an opsin that is sensitive to ultra violet (UV) light which presumptively enables the organism to perceive ultra violet light that is invisible to humans. The UV range of interest is from about 200-to about 385 nanometers with the peak sensitivity of the opsin on this fourth variant of photo receptive cone is about 358 nanometers which is known as Ultra Violet A (UVA) light.
As noted above, while a human eye has about 150,000 cones per square millimeter of fovea area, the eyes of bony fish and crustaceans, for example, have more than one million cones per square millimeter of fovea area. This large difference is the number of cone type photo receptors in the fovea presumptively provides bony fish and crustaceans with greater visual acuity than humans, as well as an ability to perceive UV light that is invisible to humans.
Ultra violet light penetrates more deeply into water than visible light and ultraviolet light is abundant in near surface marine ecosystems. It is estimated there is sufficient UV light for UV vision down to a depth of approximately 200 meter in clear ocean water, while visible light penetrates clear ocean water to a depth of only approximately 20-40 meters. The current prevailing hypothesis is that UV vision is primarily used by fish and crustaceans to improve detection of prey.
The instant invention reflects UV light off of surfaces created using the ultra violet light reflectance (UVR) using materials of applicant's claimed invention making baits and lures more perceptible to bony fish in particular and theoretically more likely to cause the fish to attempt to eat the so created bait or lure.
For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2006/0121166 issued Jun. 8, 2006 to Jeckle teaches a spray-on ultra violet light reflective composition for application on natural and synthetic baits and lures used in fishing activities. Said composition made in three separate phases and thereafter combined. When this three phase mixture is sprayed onto a natural or artificial bait or lure it creates a polymeric coating thereon containing said ultra violet light reflective composition. This reference fails to disclose, teach, or fairly suggest the “dyeing” a ultra violet reflective composition substantially permanently to natural and synthetic materials suitable for use in the construction of fishing lures.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,528,187 issued May 5, 2009 to Jeckle teaches a spray-on ultra violet light absorbing composition for application to bird decoys and related bird hunting and bird watching apparatus, said composition absorbing at least a portion of the ultra violet impinging on the article coated therewith to more closely reflect similar amounts of ultra violet light as the surrounding habitat. This reference teaches the polar opposite of applicant's claimed invention in that it is designed to absorb at least of the ultra violet light impinging on it instead of reflecting it. Thus, this reference does not disclose, teach, or fairly suggest applicant's claimed invention.
It is known that many aquatic insects reflect ultra violet light from only portions of their anatomies creating UVR patterns or signatures similarly to the visual color, size, and shape of an aquatic insect for bony fishes to key on during feeding periods. Likewise aquatic insects, such as for example, caddis flies (sedges) reflect practically no UVR from most of their anatomies, and this too may be a feeding key factor to fish.
The prior references instead create a substantially uniform UVR over the complete anatomy of baits and lures covered with them via spray application over the completed baits or lures.
Likewise U.S. Pat. No. 8,220,379 issued Jul. 17, 2012 to Curry teaches composition which may be removably applied to an object or clothing to absorb at least a portion of the ultra violet light impinging on the object so coated by said composition.
This ability to provide UVR in fishing lures increases the length of time during the day when fish can “see” a fishing lure. This is especially true during the early dawn and pre-dawn hours and the twilight hours of the day. Additionally, the ultra violet reflectance tends to mimic the natural fishing foods “light print” thereby increasing the likelihood of a fish taking the fishing lure.
Thus, there remains a need for a composition and method of substantially permanently applying an ultra violet light reflective composition to natural and synthetic fishing lure materials that may also be dyed a color and/or dyed with a fluorescing composition.